schoolsville: October 2008

Description and Setting

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

Simple language. Imaginative details. Variety of sentence structure. Parallel grammatical structures. Pleasant repetitive sounds. Understated. And I can imagine what a hobbit hole might be from what it is most definitely not.

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On the other hand, Edgar Allan Poe lays it on pretty thick with the description, leaving little to the imagination. So often (sopoe) Poe wrote about the madman, or in the case of The Fall of the House of Usher, the sane narrator going mad. And why wouldn't he, if he had to live in an "atmosphere of gloom" like this:

"DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was; but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart—an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime. What was it—I paused to think—what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher?"

Important Notice---Senior Rage for Words journal

If you previously posted as an extra credit, you'll notice that you have already received the bonus points. I deleted your posts from the blog (so that people couldn't copy and paste your answers) but saved them on a Word document. I'll print them out for you to include with your journal.

Thanks.

Yellow Class Trivia Quiz

Here's your chance to earn 3 bonus points for all of your classmates. If you correctly answer (as a class) 20 of these trivia questions, you will all earn 3 extra credit points.

Feel free to use the Internet to search for many of these answers.

Copy and paste these questions into your "comment" box and then provide the answer after each question.

1. What bishop first developed the plan to build a Wilmington diocesan high school ?

2. Why did Bishop Thomas Mardaga choose St. Mark as our school's patron saint?

3. Name at least six current teachers whom Mr. Fiorelli taught at St. Mark's.

4. Name the only two faculty and staff members who have been here since the school first opened.

5. What St. Mark club has won the Columbia University Award for prose and poetry?

6. Name at least five married couples who teach/work at St. Mark's.

7. What are the first four lines of the alma mater?

8. Johnny Neel helped to co-write the alma mater. What famous rock band did he later play with?

9. Who was the first principal of St. Mark's?

10. Who is the library named after?

11. Since St. Mark's was not completed when classes began, at what school did students first attend classes?

12. What alumni teacher scored the first goal in the history of St. Mark's soccer?

13. What Class of '73 grad is now the admissions director at St. Mark's?

14. What famous St. Mark's grad is a famous chef who owns a string of restaurants in Seattle?

15. Name at least one St. Mark grad who played pro football.

16. Name at least one St. Mark grad who appeared on a Broadway stage.

17. Name at least one St. Mark grad who played pro baseball.

18. Originally, what were the three final choices for the St. Mark's mascot?

19. What Class of '73 grad is now our director of advancement (fund raising)?

20. What Class of '06 grad competed in the 2008 Shanghai Olympics?

21. The date December 18 marks the anniversary of what important St. Mark's event?

22. What St. Mark's grad is the Lieutenant Governor of the state of Delaware?

23. What St. Mark's teacher was State Basketball Player of the Year twice?

24. Name at least three St. Mark's teachers who are graduates of Salesianum.

25. What club at St. Mark's works with the Delaware Foundation Reaching Citizens with Cognitive Disabilities?

First quarter sophomore journal instructions

Journals due on Tuesday, October 28.

Three points extra credit if turned in before Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. You should hand them to me tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday. E-mail over the weekend.

Format
Double spaced
Neat font
250 word minimum for each

Sophomores

Favorite Work of Art
Life in the Fast Lane
Be Like Ben
Jim Valvano speech
The American Dream

Everything gets turned in, whether you posted or not.

First quarter senior journal instructions

Journals due on Tuesday, October 28.

Three points extra credit if turned in before Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. You should hand them to me tomorrow (Thursday) or Friday. E-mail over the weekend.

Format
Double spaced
Neat font
250 word minimum for each

Seniors

Seeing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
Every Picture Tells a Story
Known Forever by the Tracks We Leave
Rage for Words
One Scene With Extra Cheese

Everything gets turned in, whether you posted or not.

Seniors--The Gift of the Magi

Seniors,

This is NOT for your writing journal, but for class on Wednesday. Tonight read O. Henry's masterpiece, The Gift of the Magi, found at this link (click).

Pay attention to the narration, the "summary."

What lines are particularly well crafted? Identify the rhetorical trick used in each.

Bring whatever notes you have made for class discussion (or a quiz????) tomorrow.

Sophs #5-- The American Dream

Your final journal assignment for the first quarter is an appropriate one. You've studied the early colonists and then the early Americans. Both groups of people had visions of the greatness of America. The Puritans envisioned a religious "city upon a hill" nurtured and protected by their God. America's founding fathers constituted a democratic republic that would encourage other governments throughout the world to also engage in a social contract with its citizens, ensuring a protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. America was created to be a model of government for the rest of the world.

A Frenchman, Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, emigrated to the colonies in 1755. He married a American-born women, raised a family, and farmed in Orange County, NY. Life was going well until the Revolutionary War broke out. Unwilling to choose between the revolutionary and the Tory cause, de Crevecoeur fled to England, leaving his wife and children. When the war ended, he published a book in 1782, Letters From an American Farmer, adapting the pseudonym of an American farmer, James, and writing back in epistles to his brethren in England. The book told of the promise of the good life in America; it is one of the first written statements of the American Dream.

The notion of the American Dream (even today) represents a romanticized ideal of the hope and promise of America. For de Crevecoeur, the American Dream promised these new and exciting gifts to all who dared to call themselves, Americans:

1. America is an asylum, a refuge for Europe's poor and downtrodden
2. The American society is a melting pot of people from all over Europe
3. The American economy rewards the hard worker with a chance to get ahead.
4. The American is free to worship as he pleases, and religion demands little of him.
5. Americans are the western pilgrims, bringing the best of Europe to this new land, and making it better. Americans are looked upon as leaders of the world.

Throughout America's history, there is no doubt that the American Dream has been realized by millions of successful people. There is also little doubt that reality of America did not always live up to the Dream. Undoubtedly, millions of people experienced failures, too--nightmares, not dreams.

Look over the five aspects of deCrevecouer's Dream listed above. Write about how one of those ideas either rewarded OR failed an individual. Ideally, I'd like you to relate a personal story about a relative or someone you closely know. However, if you absolutely cannot think of someone, you are free to write about someone else. In that case, provide your information source at the end of your writing.

#4 Sophs--Jim Valvano--Laugh, Think, and Cry

Jim Valvano coached the North Carolina State Wolfpack to an upset victory in the 1983 NCAA men's basketball championship game. Valvano parlayed this victory with his gift of public speaking to become one of the most likable and recognizable coaches in the land. I had the pleasure of listening to Valvano speak to a group of Delaware high school basketball coaches and All Stars. Leaving the Dover banquet hall that night, I thought to myself, "This guy is going to be a world shaker." Or something like that.

His North Carolina State teams would never come close to matching the success of the 1983 season. Then came the news that Valvano had developed cancer.

Only ten years after his national championship, his body ravaged with cancerous tumors, Valvano was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY's (ESPN's annual BESTS). Valvano, an inspirational coach, was probably even a better public speaker. This speech will make you laugh, think, and cry, three things, that according to Valvano, you should do every day.

The Jimmy V Foundation was founded in his honor. It's still active and important today, raising millions of dollars to fight cancer. Dick Vitale, a well-known television basketball broadcaster and once a close friend of Valvano, is a main P.T. (Prime Time) Player in the battle against the insidious disease.

Your assignment: listen to the speech again (click on this link) and read the words to the speech at this link. Write your journal by responding to one of the following prompts:

1. What are the best parts (lines) of the speech? Why?

2. Tell me about the best 'pep talk' that you've ever received. Make sure to discuss the speaker, the situation, the audience, and the speaker's technique. Cite lines from the speech if you can.

3. How do you laugh, think, and cry each day?

4. Relate a personal story to any topic discussed in the speech.

5. Analyze the speech according to pathos, ethos, and logos.

Extra credit if posted by Tuesday, October 21.

# 5 Seniors: One Scene With Extra Cheese, Please

I'll proudly pronounce that nothing tastes better than Velveeta, the processed food substitute that to me, outcheeses the real thing. You could slop on that velvety yellow goo on anything, even broccoli, and you'll get my taste buds standing at attention.

My plebeian, if not bad, taste, does not begin and end with food. Quote Shakespeare if you want to impress the OTHER English teachers 'round here; I'm a sucker for a cheesy movie line. The cheesy movie line, like its Velveeta metaphorical counterpart, isn't REAL, but boy is it GOOOOOOD.

Come on. Admit it. When you're watching a movie for the umpteeth time, you patiently wait for your favorite cheesy bits of dialogue every, just so you can smile, or roll on the floor, or grow sad, or even emote a real, truly heartful "awwwww." It doesn't matter that the lines seem so unrealistic, so contrived, so sometimes out of character. They still work.

So you say you need some examples?

"You had me at hello." (Renee Zelwegger in Jerry Maguire) How did this girl so easily forgive the caddy Tom Cruise?

"No one puts Baby in the corner!" (Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing) Wow, man. Chill. OK, we'll find a better seat for Baby. No, you're not going up on stage to dance, too. You're a wild man. Swayze continues to heap on the sauce: "I do the last dance every year, and I'm going to do it again this year. Except I'm going to do it my way." I'm writing this one in my journal to prove to myself that I can do ANYTHING.

"I'm the King of the World." (Leonardo DiC in The Titanic) Dream on, Leo. Tomorrow morning you'll still be down below with the rest of the hired help. Or going down with a sinking ship.

Even so-called "real" mobster movies aren't exempt. In The Godfather, for example, a chubby hit man by the name of Clemenza blows out someone's brains and instructs his gang: "Leave the body, take the cannolis." This man has a cast iron heart and a stomach to match.

And my favorite, which some day I'll show you in class, goes like this: "I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her." World famous movie star Julia Roberts (shoulder length red hair, baby blue cardigan sweater, OK I've seen this more than once) lays this line on a simple British bookshop owner, Hugh Grant, who then turns HER down. Double unrealistic.

Dialogue in movies, drama, and prose, for that matter, isn't always very realistic. That's the great illusion. No one we know would ever talk like this, but we also know that we want our characters to talk EXACTLY like this. Good dialogue may sometimes get a little cheesy, but at least it is NOT ordinary. To me, the trick is to write extraordinary, fascinating, or at least, interesting dialogue, and make it SEEM entirely natural for the situation. The pros, in any profession, make the difficult look easy. Ryan Howard hitting a home run. Pavarotti hitting the high notes. When you read, watch drama, film, or TV, listen carefully to the dialogue and then think about what it does. It creates character, conflict, dramatic tension, moves the plot along, and makes us laugh, cry, and get angry. It sounds real although we know it's completed fabricated. It bears many burdens. It's hard work. That's why writing dialogue makes or breaks a good story.

Assignment: Tell me your favorite movie lines, their cinematic origins, their speakers, and why you love them so much in 250 words or more. Your writing can be heavy on the cheesy lines and light on the explanation or vice-versa.

Extra credit if posted by Tuesday, October 21.

Senior Homework for the Long Weekend

Your dialogue/scenes are due next Thursday, October 16. Print two copies--one with your name(s) and one without (for peer evaluation).

Work on your blogs and journal entries. The end of the quarter is at the end of the month, and I'll be collecting everything about a week before.

Read "An Old Fashioned Story" in your white book for Tuesday's class, October 14.

Comment Moderation Enabled

When you post your comments, they should not appear on the blog right away. I have enabled the comment moderation mode so that I have to approve comments before they appear. This is to give extra credit to those who post before the deadline without copying off of the blog.

(RED CLASS ONLY) Seniors #4 --A Rage For Words

Your senior classmates have provided some sentences that show a mastery of the English language.
Take a close look at each one and tell me what rhetorical "trick" gives these words "life" beyond their mere literal meanings.

What do I mean by a rhetorical trick?

Words come to life when they're arranged in figures of speech (metaphors, similes, paradoxes, oxymorons, personification, etc), images, sound patterns (alliteration, assonance), or rhetorical questions. Writing certain sentence patterns (parallel structure) add emphasis. Using crisp action verbs can kick-start a sentence.

The Greeks called this creation of powerful language "rhetoric." It was once a studied, practiced, and revered skill of the Greek citizenry. These days, the artful language and word gets a nasty reputation because rhetoric is usually associated with unctuous politicians or advertisers who are selling themselves or their products.

Write out each sentence (just copy and paste them into a Word document) and then insert your comments explaining the rhetoric into a set of parenthesis after each sentence. You may work with a partner. It is not necessary to identify the rhetoric by exact term as long as you explain correctly the effectiveness of the sentence.

This is a MANDATORY journal entry.

But is is an OPTIONAL post for 3 pts. EXTRA CREDIT if you post by Thursday, October 9.

Here's how:

The first person (or group of two) to post sentences and correctly identify their rhetorical characteristics gets a point per sentence, up to a maximum of 5 points. Indicate your first name(s) and your section color. Once a sentence and explanation is posted, you can only post other non-posted sentences for extra credit.

Written by your senior classmates, here are some good, solid sentences worthy of closer inspection and analysis:

I believe that there are no overachievers, only those who reach their potential by giving it all they have and those who are too scared of failure to try.

For the eternity of my life I have been nothing but a shadow on the wall waiting for someone to notice me only to change the light.

They certainly did not watch TV, and my magazines were like a portal for them to see into an unknown world.

I went from living in this hellish idea of living two lives to embracing the beauty that this action bestowed upon me

.

After she helped me with my adolescent drama, she would always end the conversation with, "Your mother loves you."

Would you expect your typical, suburban, 17 year old girl to know the difference between a circular saw and a band saw?

My heart pounded and my blood pressure dropped. It was game time.

It wasn't dying that I was afraid of; it was the life I hadn't lived that scared me.

Vanity no longer existed and people were just being themselves, carefree and down to earth.

I just barreled through the end of the year as if I was a running back making a final push to the end zone and there was a wall of defenders in his path.

It is easier to see life as a fairytale rather than reality. Sometimes what you see is not as it is. My life is more like a tragedy with a smile to follow it.

Since the accident, I've learned to be cautious, but not fearful, to be prepared, but not paranoid, and to recognize and respect the fragility of life, but not let it keep me from living it.

You would not have been able to distinguish tears from the sweat on my face.

Presents were opened, ham was cooked, and the tree looked beautiful with all of its lights and ornaments.

Five days a week for ten long agonizing months, I woke up at the crack of dawn and waited on the corner of my street for the bus to arrive.

I had never really given thought to what career path I would take. I was pleasantly stuck on that fork in the road.

The type of day steam seems to melt the pavement and not even the shade of a pin oak could provide escape from the heat.

We went on, pretending nothing had happened, but at the moment, I had received a teenager's grasp on humor four years early.

Math was all around us. I breathed it. I felt it. I loved it.

The statistically inevitable reality of divorce took over my family.

It felt as if there wasn't enough air in the room; it was clouded with such sadness that it was difficult to breathe.

This is a coach who affected me in unique way through his friendship, guidance, and the occasional dosage of tough love.

Seniors--First Test review

I told you that I wouldn't clutter up my teaching room with trite motivational posters, but sometimes I get pretty tacky at Schoolsville.

This is everything that we covered so far. In some way, you'll be asked to recall and/or apply your knowledge of EVERYTHING.

So please make sure that you have everything in your notes and folder to STUDY. It would be best to go over things with another student in case you need to copy notes or a handout that you missed. If you missed a number of days of class, you should have seen me to get information that we covered in your absence

Here's EVERYTHING that you're responsible for:

Fiction notes

notes on The Born Writer

The Lucid Eye in Silver Town (Updike) and notes, esp. how Updike is a "born writer"

Vermeer (Jay's favorite) vs. Degas (painter of the ordinary vs. painter of the beautiful)

notes on scene, summary, and description

Fish Cheeks (Tan), Notes of a Native Son (Baldwin), Big Russ (Russert) and notes/quotes

regarding what makes good storytelling

scene from The Sun Also Rises and notes (scene vs. summary)

scene from Pigeon Feathers (scene vs. summary)

Old Man at the Bridge and notes (scene, dialogue in developing character)

Garden State (dialogue in developing character)

Seinfeld episode (dialogue—interesting "ordinary" conversation seems interesting and funny)

Patricia, Edith, and Arnold and notes (scene, interesting dialogue to make an ordinary story and characters seem interesting and more special)

notes on effective dialogue (see your handout on writing an effective scene)

terms/definitions: fiction, scene, summary, mimesis, selection, iceberg theory of Hemingway, aspects of the Born Writer

Test format (tentative, esp. part E)

a. definitions
b. True-false (read them carefully--any one thing that is false makes the answer false)
c. fill-ins (lists, etc.)
d. short answers

e. applied knowledge (you'll be given a reading and asked to answer applying principles that we have studied)

Sophs (not for journal) Patrick Henry computer lab assignment

Computer lab assignment on Patrick Henry. You may work with a partner if you like.

Post by the end of class on Thursday.

Find online and read Patrick Henry's speech.

1. Define the word "rhetoric" (the GOOD meaning of the word).

2. Find and explain two metaphors that Henry uses.

3. Find and explain two allusions that Henry uses.

4. Note at least two other lines that have rhetoric force and impact (in other words, the "way" the words are arranged make them more powerful than normal, everyday, speech).

5. Define the verbs bolded in the next paragraph. Even though the verbs are similar in meaning, make sure your definitions are very different

Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.

6. Read (JUST READ AND REMEMBER) the next few sentences. Note how the British reacted to the pleas of the colonists. You do not need to write anything here.

Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.

Seniors #4 --A Rage For Words

Your senior classmates have provided some sentences that show a mastery of the English language.

Take a close look at each one and tell me what rhetorical "trick" gives these words "life" beyond their mere literal meanings.

What do I mean by a rhetorical trick?